The defending champions at EuroBasket have served notice they are going to be very, very hard to dethrone.
Thanks to a very heavy dose of Luka Magic.
Luka Dončić took charge for a second day in a row and led Slovenia to a critical and hard-fought 88-80 victory over France and clinch the top spot in powerful Group B with a 4-1 record, which means they will have one of the top seeds going into the knockout phase of the tournament.
Luka was unstoppable. A day after he scored 36 points in a win over host Germany, the Mavericks’ superstar point guard had 47 points, the most in EuroBasket play in more than 60 years, to go with seven rebounds and five assists. He played all but 76 seconds of the 40-minute game and his remarkable point total came on just 23 shots from the field (making 15), including 6-of-11 from 3-point range.
It’s the second-most points in EuroBasket history.
He also made 11-of-12 free throws, which was a major improvement over his shooting from the stripe during the rest of the tournament.
The Slovenians will play the fourth-place team in Group A in the first knockout round as 16 of the 24 teams in the EuroBasket tournament advance after group play ends Thursday.
The Slovenians will get Thursday and Friday off, which should help after playing four games in five days.
Their group was full of demanding competitors. France was the last in a line of Lithuania, Germany and even Bosnia and Herzegovina, which upset the Slovenians for their only loss in group play.
It took a lot of Luka Magic and a good job by the medical staff to help the Slovenians pull off the win.
First, it was Dončić wheeling down the left sideline in the second quarter with the shot clock dwindling. Rudy Gobert, France’s 7-1 center who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was shadowing Dončić, who wheeled toward the baseline and heaved a one-handed prayer that splashed into the net for an important 3-pointer.
Later in the game, the Slovenians were up 80-70 until France went on a 12-2 surge to tie it.
But with Goran Dragic (14 points) and Dončić leading the way, the Slovenians scored the last six points and served notice that they remain the team to beat in this tournament. A key steal by Dragic led to a layup, which pushed the lead to four points with under 30 seconds left.
The Slovenians played without big man Mike Tobey, who was out with a sprained ankle suffered on the jump ball in Tuesday’s win over Germany. There could be a chance Tobey returns for the knockout rounds.
Twitter: @ESefko
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